Last Sunday I was lucky enough to participate in a photoshoot for Amaranth Opulent with Carolyn of Ophanim Gothique and Lindsay of Lolita Nouveau/Lolitas-N-Cream. At Carolyn's suggestion, we settled on the mind-blowingly stunning Harkness Park as our location; even though we had to trek it across the state, as soon as I saw pictures I knew it would be the perfect showcase for all three designers. Our model line-up changed a few times due to time constraints, long car rides, and sudden illness, but we still ended up with four amazingly talented ladies: Crystal, Jesi, and two non-lolita friends, Cate and (another!) Lindsay. It was such a wonderful day; everything went spectacularly, so much better than I had every hoped for.

Crystal

Doing a spot of modeling myself for Ophanim:

I had given my petticoat to one of the models, so that's why I'm so deflated!

Fellow designer Lindsay offered her modeling services to Carolyn as well:

Jesi

Cate

Lindsay

The lovely Lolita Nouveau girls:

The Aftermath - well, no, just a picnic:

It was such an amazing day, spent around so many talented people. I hope we can do this again someday soon - a winter line, maybe?

Amaranth Opulent is a line of eco-friendly, one-of-a-kind jewelry by Miss Lumpy. Drawing inspiration from a slew of alternative fashions such as lolita, mori-girl, and steampunk, Amaranth Opulent is inspired to taking organic, sustainably-harvested materials and combining them with findings purchased from independent businesses to create jewelry of beauty and luxury. Every flower and leaf used in this jewelry has been hand-picked and hand-pressed by Aly herself in a sustainable manner, meaning that the entire plant is not picked so that it can continue to live as an important part of its local ecosystem. Jewelry findings such as bases and chain are purchased solely from either local craft stores or Etsy shops because it is important to us that we support small businesses.Amaranth Opulent is devoted to the idea that the corruption of the world humans have created for ourselves can be purified by combining man-made materials with natural components taken straight from the Earth. The society I've found myself is not one I'm particularly fond of, and I can't be alone; call it escapism, but I've realized that I need to contribute something to the world that reflects the old-worldly, the otherworldly, that anything-but-here. If you like getting lost in the woods, if you notice the flower growing between the sidewalk cracks, if your heart wrenches at the beauty of abandoned buildings covered with vines, Amaranth Opulent was made with you in mind.

Amaranth Opulent on Etsy
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Amaranth Opulent on Facebook

This story beings in the ancient way: Once upon a time, there was a young woman who lived on the outskirts of town, near where civilization ends and the Wild begins. She went about her business every single day; she did her spinning and mending, haggled with farmers at the market, and spent the mornings in her herb garden. She went to the well to gossip with the other town girls and braided her long curls in the style popular among them; she smiled at the local boys and farm hands like she knew she was supposed to; she imagined that someday she would be married off to one of them and bear him children, and her young life would fade as quickly as the beauty it took with it. This was the life of all the town girls, and no one had ever complained about it, that she knew of; how painful could it be?
But somehow something felt wrong. The maiden would sometime pause from her embroidery, look out the window, and be caught up in the beauty of the chicory or the sweet pea flowers growing along the dirt road. Somehow, something felt just slightly off: there was something about lowering her eyes from the sunbright window to the dark rows of tiny stitches she was slaving over that just felt horrifically unnatural.
One day when she rose from her bed, she noticed something different in the air, a kind of magical anticipation that stung her eyes and ran fingers of static through her hair. The girl walked to the door of her cottage, still barefoot and nightgowned, and her eyes were drawn to the edge of the wood. There, standing among the yellow toadflax and daisy fleabane, was an elegant doe, her rump speckled with dew and glistening in the early morning sunshine. Their eyes met, and somehow without the young woman's command, her feet started to move towards the animal. Together they fled into the forest; running side by side, the thumping beats of their footfalls were the rhythm of freedom to which they marched.
The young woman fled to the forest, and this is where she remains to this very day. Sometimes the town-dwellers and farmers caught glimpses of her, long blond curls unruly and tangled around twigs and flowers. Her eyes are beyond wild; they are elated, overjoyed, full of life and purity and freedom. Abandoning herself to the forest, she elevated her mind beyond the horrid confines of society and truly become what she was destined to be: The Wild Woman of the Wood.

Psst, remember that project I've been coyly mentioning all summer? The unrelated eye candy, are from a photoshoot for it with Ophanim Gothique and Lolita Nouveau. The lovely models here are my wonderful friends Crystal and Cate. Please stay tuned this Friday, 8/13/10 when I'm going to officially announce this project!


photos care of Sean Walsh

This weekend Stefan and I trekked out to Manhattan to meet up with mah gurls Victoria, Dalin, Crystal, and their boys for an epic quadruple date at Alice's Teacup. We were lucky to get reservations in last minute on Sunday, which is very busy for them (the only openings were at 8 AM and 2:15 - clearly we chose the latter!) and we monopolized a corner booth for about, oh... two hours of tea and debauchery. We happened to get there on the tail-end of their weekend brunch, so we had some lovely cocktails and mar-tea-nis to sip with our tea sandwiches and scones.


Crystal and Victoria both got Queen of Hearts inspired mar-tea-nis of vervain tea, raspberries, and mint with a touch of Vodka, while Dalin's sweetie Sean and I both opted for brunch classics: a peach tea and champagne Bellini for me and a Bloody Mary for him. The other boys and Dalin herself were both satisfied with their teas.


And the food! Oh, the food! While not horribly impressive in taste, the presentation was really very sweet. The two teas that were ordered were very lovely, coming served on three-tier tea services. My curry chicken salad sandwich came on thick, sweet multi-grain bread with a generous pile of greens (or french fries, if that's more suiting to your tastes). All of the prices are fine for what you get - I think I paid about 9 or 10 dollars for my sandwich and side salad - moderate-low price for a sit-down restaurant in Manhattan, and that's about how it tasted: moderate-low quality. Priced indicatively, so if you're looking for a really special meal, it's probably worth it to get the higher-priced items. This suited me just fine for the casual date-day.






Afterward, we all went to the Sanrio store in Times Square, and then we split up: Crystal and John headed off to a prior engagement, Victoria and Matt started home, and Dalin, Sean, Stefan and I all went to check out the new 4-floor Forever 21 store and Midtown Comics (though I had just given up on the corset and between the cinching, heat, and allergies, I wasn't really up for shopping and mostly just floated around observing. An iced green tea from Starbucks care of Stefan helped, though ♥).



Then we all headed back to Magnolia to get some noms for the ride home (a vanilla bean cheesecake for Stefan, a small serving of chicken Tikka with naan for me, and a beverage for Sean - Dalin, did you get anything? I can't remember now, I was so dead by then!). During conversation, we discovered that Sean would be taking the same train as Stefan and I for about half the trip, so we had a conversation buddy for most of our trip home, which was a nice change of pace - normally he and I just take turns falling asleep on each other's shoulders, because we are, in fact, secretly old people. He has an excuse - he's from the country, the Big City tires him out. I'm just a wuss.



Thanks so much to my counter-couples for an absolutely amazing Sunday afternoon! It was so wonderful to get together with everyone and spend a whole day together. We should make a habit of these!

♥BONUS♥

After we got home, Stefan and I collapsed on the couch in out PJs with cups of tea. Clearly I'm five years old and can't drink anything without spilling it on me, as the spot on my Hello Kitties show.

I've been friends with Lindsay for years now. Having met through our mutual friend Victoria Suzanne, I've always been a huge fan of her adorable creations for her jewelry line, Lolitas N Cream. Now that I've been leaving sweet lolita, I was worried that I wouldn't be able to purchase from some of my favorite brands and artisans, Lindsay included. However, this crafty lady is ahead of the game! I found out a few months ago that as well as being a jewelry-maker, she's also in fashion design school and makes custom corsets - be still my heart! I saved up for a bit to make sure that I could afford the (very modest) price as well as my usual expenses, and then sent her an eager message saying that I was ready for her services. We hashed out a few specifics, such as color scheme (blue and cream, of course - what else?!) and fabric choice (I wanted something nice and elegant, but on the low-end of the cost spectrum; we decided on a lightly-patterned cotton), and I sent her the first installment of the payment. About two weeks later, I sent her the second and final installment, and soon I had the message in my inbox that the corset was done!Shipping was fine - there was a bit of a delay in getting it out, but that's just because her family was in town and she was playing hostess. I don't hold that against her at all, especially because it was Father's Day weekend - I didn't expect her to rudely ignore her family just to satisfy my impatience! It was shipped in a priority mail box that was the perfect size - it fit snugly, so tissue wasn't necessary.
The corset is amazing quality. There are no loose threads or peeking boning, all of the boning is straight and equally spaced, and the grommets are installed perfectly. Lindsay even included a whole spoon of organdy ribbon to tie the laces with!

(also corsets are unbelievably fun to photograph)

A few days after paying my first installment, Lindsay launched her new clothing line, Lolita Nouveau with a beautiful cameo-printed skirt. I've been dying for a brown skirt for months, so I knew I had to pounce on this one! I'm proud to announce that I'm the official guinea pig, being as I'm the first one to buy and receive anything from this new line.

Sorry for the dressforms, by the way - I was still sick as a dog with tonsillitis when these photos were taken, so I didn't feel like getting all dolled up. Anyway, here's a quickie coord featuring the skirt. It's so lovely! It's a bit wrinkled from shipping (wasn't up to battling the heat +fever +iron to fix it), but it's really amazingly put together. It features a brown cotton base with metallic silver contrast stitching on the ruffles and hems. The screenprinted cameo is metallic silver, enhanced with silver rhinestones and both look very skillfully applied.

Detail of the cameo

Back shot

Inside shots - the entire interior is serged and hemmed.

If I had one criticism of the skirt, I would say that it's the fabric. It's looks and feels very nice, however it is a touch thin. I know a few girls who wear colored petticoats, and these might show through the fabric a bit; however, the thinner fabric is definitely a godsend in the summer, and it's still thicker than some AP print fabrics I've seen.

I definitely recommend Lolita Nouveau and Lindsay's custom work. I couldn't be happier with both products, and I definitely recommend them. I'm very excited to see future products from Lolita Nouveau!